The Ripples on the Other Side
by Little Bird Teloka
Summary: {Prompt Based One-Shot} Prompt from my16worldforever on tumblr: "Lizzie comes across Red at the pier at nighttime and it's cold and he gives her his coat! And…. He kisses her! And she likes it! Okay maybe the last two parts are a bit over the top. But I ship it hard." Minor Lizzington; didn't turn out as shippy as the prompt sounds.


_AN: Thank you all again! I've had a few requests for trying a multi-chapter story. I'm not sure if I have the time for truly committing to something like that, and I really truly should not be trusted with long continuous plots. Seriously. But, I can and will attempt to tie a couple of drabbles together, and respond to prompts if the prompts are linked or can be linked together. I'm happy to take suggestions for expansion and expand, if that makes sense. I'm just... frightened of forming my own long-fic right now. And there are a couple of really fantastic looking ones already started by other authors in the Blacklist category; I think true multi-chap pieces might be better left in their far more capable hands for now! ;u;_

_Thanks again for any reviews and feedback! 3 3_

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"The city can be a dangerous place for a beautiful girl after dark."

Somehow, although she couldn't have explained how, she'd known he was there. It was a saving grace for her pride, because she managed to keep her composure and not startle or jump at his sudden words in the silent night.

"How did you even find me, Reddington?"  
"I will always find you, Lizzie."

Her sigh disappeared in the breeze off the Potomac, and she drew her arms a little closer, collapsing into herself and sinking further within her scarf. It was cold and bitter by the river, and while it lacked the salty smell of the ocean, it still did just as good a job of biting through her clothes.

His feet were as silent as hers could hope to be on the planks of the pier, and he stepped up beside her without a word, sitting down on the same bench, a little too close for comfort. She scooted an inch aside, turning her knees away from him automatically but without any further acknowledgement.

For a long while they stared out over the water, lights through the trees on the other side creating the occasional silver glint off the ripples in the river. Finally, with a huff of breath that appeared in front of her before dissipating into the night air, she broke the peace.

"What are you doing here?"

Beside her, he was leaning forward with his elbows propped in his lap, the tips of his fingers together and barely touching the underside of his chin. He looked at her- tracking up from her toes to her face- when she spoke, but otherwise didn't move or speak.

"I don't think I'm cut out for this."  
"Cut out for what?"  
"This. All… all this." He shook his head slightly at the vagueness of her comment, so she continued, "This job."  
"Isn't this the career you wanted?"  
"Not like this. It's all become too personal, too dangerous."

Staring at her fingertips, she breathed into her palms to warm them, looking away from him and back out over the lonely river. Elizabeth didn't need to add that it was not only her she worried about, but her friends and family, too. She couldn't do something that jeopardized their safety, not at the end of the day.

"You'll be alright, Lizzie."  
"How can you know that?"  
"You've got me."

With a snap her gaze turned to him, and even in the low light he could see the narrowness of her eyes, the fierce dislike in her frown. Although she had the willpower to keep her voice steady, the fog of her breath betrayed how short it had become, small puffs of mist in the chill.

"I don't want you."  
"I know."  
"I never asked for you- For this. For any of it."  
"I know."

Finally he sat up straight again, flattening his palms on his legs and stretching his shoulders, watching the stir of the currents under the surface of the Potomac in front of them. He always managed to give a very good impression of only paying her peripheral attention.

After a moment he stood, taking a few paces away from the bench, away from her, the darkness of his suit making the sharp edges of him fade against the night. Then he turned around, fixing her with a stare so intense it made her feel ill, before he knelt down part of the way in front of her. He touched her knees, and she bared her teeth behind her scarf in dislike, but had nowhere to go.

"You're going to be okay, Lizzie." In a quirk she was coming to recognize as uniquely his own, Reddington tilted his head and gave a disconcertingly cheerful smile, "You know I won't let anything happen to you."  
"I know."  
"Good."

When he stood up, he held her by the elbows and took her with him, and they stood chest to chest in the dark. Liz blessed the extra height her small heels gave her, and steeled herself against intimidation.

Without stepping away, he shifted in place, and she realized he was removing his coat too late to insist he stop, and it was around her shoulders before she could duck away.

"No, I don't-"

The edges of his suit lapels froze between her fingers, midway to her shirking it off and handing it back.

After patting his coat against her shoulders, Reddington had slipped his hands seamlessly up to her jaw line, and tilted her face, until they locked eyes and he looked straight through her. Her stomach churned unpleasantly, and she wondered if he could see through her as transparent as she felt; could he see the ripples of the river on the other side?

She felt his fingers slide around her ears, and without word or breath he pulled her towards his chest. Stubbornly she resisted, but not thoroughly enough, and he simply eased her to him a few inches, enough to lean down and press his lips against her forehead.

There was a painful, frightened _thump_ in her chest and she froze, focusing on the warmth of his breath causing the strands of hair in her fringe to dance and tickle her numb skin. A tiny, partial weight was his chin almost balanced on the top of her head, and as his hands brushed her shoulders in the shadow of a hug, she wondered where that extra inch of height from her heels had gone.

And just like that he let her go, hands dropping back to his own side, and by the time she'd composed a stern frown up at him, he was looking to the sky, discerning stars from satellites.


End file.
